Diana 'wept as she read brother's cruel words'

Caroline Davies reports on ex-butler's criticisms of Earl Spencer

12:01AM BST 23 Oct 2003

Earl Spencer won acclaim for his address at the funeral of his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales, but reduced her to tears with his "cruel" words in a letter, according to her former butler, Paul Burrell.

Mr Burrell has published extracts from private letters to the Princess in his new book A Royal Duty.

He launched a scathing attack on Lord Spencer, calling him a hypocrite, and said the letter that had most hurt Diana was one from her brother refusing her permission to move to the Althorp estate and dismissing the bulimia from which she suffered as "mental problems".

The Princess wept, he claims, as she read the words: "After years of neglect on both sides our relationship is the weakest I have with any of my sisters . . . perhaps you have more time to notice that we seldom speak.

"I . . . will always be there for you . . . as a loving brother, albeit one who has through 15 years' absence rather lost touch - to the extent I have to read Richard Kay [a journalist] to learn that you are coming to Althorp."

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Also in the letter Lord Spencer wrote: "I long ago accepted that I was a peripheral part of your life, and that no longer saddens me. Indeed, it is easier for me and my family to be in that position as I view the consternation and hurt your fickle friendship has caused so many."

Yet at the funeral, Lord Spencer had stressed their closeness, saying: "Fundamentally she had not changed at all from the big sister who mothered me as a baby, fought with me at school and endured those long train journeys between our parents' homes at weekends."

And, in his address, he also spoke sympathetically of her eating disorder, describing his sister as "most childlike in her desire to do good for others so she could release herself from deep feelings of unworthiness of which her eating disorders were merely a symptom.

"Above all we give thanks for the life of a woman I am so proud to be able to call my sister."

In the book, which is being serialised in the Daily Mirror, Mr Burrell said that Lord Spencer had demanded the return of the family tiara which Diana had worn on her wedding day.

The Spencer letter is the second batch of private correspondence, which Mr Burrell claims was entrusted to him by the Princess, to be published in his book.

Prince Philip was "furious" when highly private notes from him to the Princess, detailing his views on Camilla Parker Bowles, were published.

But Palace lawyers have conceded that they are unlikely to gain an injunction to ban the book because the small extracts do not infringe copyright laws. Mr Burrell's revelations have fuelled calls for an inquest into the Princess's death. Michael Burgess, the Royal coroner, said yesterday that an inquest had not yet been held "because the various investigations being made on my behalf have not so far been concluded".

Matters were still before the French courts, he said. "As coroner with responsibility for the case, it is ultimately for me to decide on the scope of the investigations, the witnesses to be called and when I may be ready to hold the inquest." He aimed to announce a date and venue "as soon as I can".

According to the Daily Mirror, Prince Charles exploded with rage when he suspected that the Princess had discovered a secret meeting with Mrs Parker Bowles and hurled a book across the room while reprimanding Mr Burrell. When the butler asked if the Prince expected him to lie on his behalf, he allegedly responded: "Yes. Yes!"

Mr Burrell writes that the Prince shouted: " 'I am the Prince of Wales.' He screamed and stamped his foot to emphasise his authority, 'and I will be King! So yes. Yes!' ."

Mr Burrell also claimed that the Princess was taken to task over false allegations she made that Prince Charles had had an affair with Tiggy Legge-Bourke, nanny to the young princes, which had resulted in her having an abortion.

An investigation was launched by Sir Robert Fellowes, then the Queen's private secretary and the Princess's brother-in-law, after the Princess allegedly went up to Miss Legge-Bourke at a Christmas party and said, "So sorry to hear about the baby."

Miss Legge-Bourke instructed lawyers to deny the unfounded allegation, and after inquiries, Sir Robert wrote to the Princess: "Your allegations concerning Tiggy Legge-Bourke are completely unfounded.

"Her relationship with the Prince of Wales has never been anything but a professional one.

"On the date of the supposed abortion, she was at Highgrove with William and Harry. It is in your own best interests that you withdraw these allegations. You have got this whole thing dreadfully wrong."